The Moment

2|16|09: Afghanistan

It's his war now. When President Barack Obama ordered two more U.S. combat brigades into Afghanistan, deploying 17,000 troops to join the 36,000-strong U.S. force already in the theater, he sent a message about his Administration's priorities (the units had been slated for Iraq) and embraced a tree of thorns. He won't disentangle himself anytime soon.

"This increase," said Obama, distancing himself from the Bush Administration, "is necessary to stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, which has not received the strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently requires." There could be more deployments to come. If the U.S. commander in Afghanistan...